


all bark and no bite

by xuxikr



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Affection, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kinda, Kissing, M/M, Magic and Stuff, Witchcraft, and a bit of angst, donghyuck turns into a puppy over night ok! hes a pup!, hybrid!donghyuck, idk how to tag??, just a bit, lowkey pining, my favorite, puppy human hybrid, renhyuck friendship bc i luv me some renhyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 15:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16997832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xuxikr/pseuds/xuxikr
Summary: To Mark, Donghyuck exudes the energy of an annoying puppy that follows you around even to the bathroom.One morning, the whole dorm wakes to Donghyuck growing puppy ears and a tail to match.





	all bark and no bite

**Author's Note:**

> yh this is weird dont @ me

To Mark, Donghyuck exudes the energy of an annoying puppy that follows you around even to the bathroom. (One time, Donghyuck has actually followed him into the bathroom because the younger has been too involved in talking about his conversation with Jeno to shut up and realize that Mark is in the bathroom, half-naked and taking a big dump.)

He doesn’t mean it literally when he says that Donghyuck is a puppy of course, it’s more of like a metaphor. Writers like metaphors. Despite knowing the fact that Mark only uses the word ‘puppy’ as a metaphor to describe him, Donghyuck still won’t let him live it down. Often, Donghyuck will rub his head against his shoulder like a pup vying for attention, pat him with his hands turned into makeshift paws and tell him to _pet_ him and that he deserves good belly rubs for being such a good boy.

All in all, Mark thinks sometimes that Donghyuck is weird. Despite being his friend (Mark sighs, _unfortunately_ ) for the past five years of the most formative time of their lives, there are still some of his antics that Mark can’t and will never understand.

Most especially today.

He’s usually early to wake up but a late night in the studio caused Mark to crash really bad hence his unusual sleeping in. It’s a good night’s rest though so he doesn’t regret anything but his bliss is soon taken away from him when he hears screaming and the loud crashing of something against something(?). He thinks it’s Johnny’s screams and Taeyong’s repeated yelling of “that’s so cute!” that wakes him up from his slumber.

So half-awake, and because he is very much concerned about the well-being of his members, Mark trudges his way to the living room with his hand down his pants (a very unfortunate habit for a Mark that had just woken up) and eyes barely open.

“What’s going on?” He asks, sleepy and vision still hazy. In addition to the fact that he has shitty eyesight, his eyes are still adjusting to the bright lighting in the room.

There are about eight or seven (he can’t count) heads surrounding the living room couch, gathering around the member that’s seated on it hence blocking Mark’s view. He’s surprised at how he hasn’t heard Donghyuck’s annoying “good morning!” yet.

It’s Taeil that answers his question and Mark is quick to walk towards his side to get a view of all the commotion. “Donghyuck has dog ears and a tail.”

Mark makes a noise of confusion at that statement. Is this like those hats with the controllable bunny ears? Where on earth did Donghyuck even get those this early in the morning? Is this really worth losing precious minutes of his sleep over?

The members make the path clear for him and Mark concludes that yes, this is indeed worth losing precious minutes of his sleep over.

“Hyung,” Donghyuck is looking at him with wide eyes (wider than usual, brighter than usual… like those videos of puppies begging for treats he always watches on Youtube). His eyes dart immediately to the dog ears that are perked up in interest, their color the same shade of dark brown as Donghyuck’s hair color. His tail is wagging behind him excitedly, as if it’s a real tail.

“Donghyuck?” Mark’s question only consists of Donghyuck’s name but it’s a question that’s directed to everyone. What is happening?

It’s Jaehyun that supplicates the information Mark is looking for, momentarily breaking the shared eye contact between Mark and Puppy Donghyuck. “Donghyuck woke me up earlier screaming that he had grown puppy ears and a puppy tail. Of course I thought it was his usual bullshit but I saw him and tried to pull his ears away… won’t go.”

“Oh come on, you guys don’t think this is real don’t you?” He says in disbelief, laughing at them, at Donghyuck and he definitely notices the way Donghyuck’s fake(!) tail droops and falls to his side.

Taeyong steps in, sits next to Donghyuck and puts an arm around his shoulders when the leader notices the change of emotion in Donghyuck. Now that he has very prominent ears and tail that indicate his feelings, he’s way easier to read. Mark feels kind of bad. “Don’t say that, why would Donghyuck lie about something like this? We already called the manager and he said Donghyuck should just rest for now. They already put out an announcement that he’ll be resting for the mean time for health issues…”

Donghyuck leans against Taeyong’s touch, tail circling around Taeyong’s waist and the older laughs (if Mark knew, Taeyong’s absolutely excited about this, lowkey.) “Thanks hyung, thanks for not being mean to me when I grew a tail and ears overnight! Some people can just be cruel! Who could hurt a cute puppy like me?”

Mark will never understand Donghyuck’s antics, especially now as he jokes about growing another pair of ears and another limb.

 

 

“I’m going to report you for animal abuse, hyung.” Is what Donghyuck tells him when he asks (kindly) the younger to make them lunch. The manager decided to make Mark skip today’s schedule as well, easily excusing it for a Dream schedule but the backlash with the Dream groupchat going _off_ asking about what schedule are they having that they aren’t informed about is definitely not worth having the day off.

“Hyuck, I’m going to burn the whole building down if you asked me to cook.” He tells him. He’s sitting on the kitchen table, watching Donghyuck work on their lunch as he tries to explain to the Dream members the situation at hand. The kids are in disbelief, demanding photos and he’s pretty sure that Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin and Jisung are all on their way to see it for themselves. Chenle’s in Shanghai and is absolutely pissed about missing all the fun.

Donghyuck’s tail is swishing from left and right behind him, watching it move is kind of hypnotizing, Mark thinks. His ears are doing that thing, tilting from left to right and moving to the direction of the sounds that interest him around the room.

“Your ears,” Mark starts, putting his phone down on the table because he has had enough of the Dream members cooing over Donghyuck’s transformation. Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t cute but absolutely weird! “How do they work?” He asks, tilting his head to the side.

Donghyuck turns around to face him, brow raised in confusion and lips in a tiny pout. “Like normal ears? Like you know how I can’t move my human ears? But I can do that with these babies—look.” Donghyuck then proceeds to show how his ears work, the right one falls and the left one rises until they alternate in a funny rhythm that has Mark cackling in his seat.

When they’re both done giggling over Donghyuck’s new found personal talent, Mark speaks. “For someone who’s turned into a half-dog, you’re taking this pretty well.”

Donghyuck walks to the table now, two plates of a big meal in his hands as he places them down while taking his seat across Mark. From under the table, Mark feels Donghyuck’s tail wrap around his calf. He doesn’t flinch away.

“It’s not like I can cry about it.” He says with a shrug, begins to dig in with his food. “If this is permanent then that’ll be cool—can you imagine the headlines when people find out… Lee Haechan, member of the 18-membered boygroup NCT has turned into a puppy overnight. More details to follow.”

Donghyuck’s tail keeps its position around Mark’s leg, stroking and constricting like a python. Mark doesn’t mind. “Hyuck, you are unbelievable.”

Donghyuck looks up from his plate with a smile and Donghyuck’s tail momentarily lets go of Mark’s leg as they wag from left to right excitedly. His ears are upturned, like he’s a real puppy that got positive reinforcement from being called the ‘bestest goodest boy’ and somehow… for some off reason, Mark finds that cute.

It’s as if by instinct that Mark leans forward, rubs the spot between Donghyuck’s puppy ears and pets him like that. Donghyuck’s tail wags even harder. “So cute!”

“Hyung,” Donghyuck is frozen for a hot second, eyes wide and cheeks painted red. “Did you just call me cute? Is this a first time? I’m probably dreaming. Oh my god. Hyung, are you a fucking furry? That’s disgusting!”

Mark retracts his hand back, almost getting whiplash from the action as pink runs up the expanse of his skin. Fucking Donghyuck. “No! I’m not a furry, whatever that is! I don’t even want to know!”

Mark gobbles up his food, hiding his blush from behind his hand and Donghyuck only laughs at him. Mark pretends he doesn’t see Donghyuck’s wagging tail at the praise. “God hyung, I can’t believe I had to turn into a fucking lap dog for you to call me cute. It only took that!” He’s joking, and Mark knows it but there’s a shake of his head and a lift of a scoff in his smile that tells Mark maybe he isn’t fully joking after all.

 

 

The Dream members _do_ come over but are immediately hauled back to their dorm by their manager in order not to create a bigger ruckus over Donghyuck turning into some Golden Retriever hybrid. He knows that the kids will be snapping a billion photos of Donghyuck that can easily be leaked through God knows what and they can’t let that happen.

Jeno asks him if he can be a cat instead (the token cat lover, of course) and is met with a smack of Donghyuck’s tail. Donghyuck tells him that even if he gets paid one million dollars, he won’t willingly turn into a cat.

Jaemin won’t stop touching his ears and his tail. Petting him like how he would a real puppy and it has Donghyuck purring with the older practically in his lap. Mark feels something drop in his stomach upon watching the scene but blames it on the weird food puppy Donghyuck has made them.

Jisung is the reason why they’re kicked out because he’s taking so many photos and videos of Donghyuck to send to Chenle who’s absolutely having the time of his life talking about how he’ll get Donghyuck some dog treats and a dog house when he comes back from his vacation.

It’s Renjun that takes the cake for the best reaction to Donghyuck being turned into a puppy though because he really had the audacity to bring a collar and a leash to the dorm and say, in verbatim: “This is so cool, look at this collar I got you. I’ve always wanted a dog!”

Yeah, thank God that Donghyuck is still human and doesn’t rely on instinct alone or else Renjun might have been rushed to the hospital for dog bite related injuries.

So that’s a tiring experience even if the kids only lasted for about thirty minutes in the dorm. Mark lets Donghyuck curl up in his lap and he pets him in between his ears again.

“Don’t ever let the Dreamies see me ever again. I might actually bite Renjun the next time he tries putting that collar on me.” Donghyuck whines, glaring at the said collar that’s placed on the coffee table in front of them. Mark placates him with soothing rubs and tugs at his hair.

“Hey, they’re not so bad. Just excited, probably. Jisung always wanted a puppy too.”

Donghyuck deadpans. “Hyung…”

“I’m joking, I’m joking. But who knows, this might be over tomorrow? All will be well, Donghyuck-ah… so just rest for now.”

Donghyuck’s look at him softens, and lingers for a little while longer. “I hope so…”

Mark lets Donghyuck fall asleep on his lap like that.

 

 

The next morning doesn’t come too easily because they are all worried about Donghyuck. Hence everyone waits in the living room in anticipation for the younger to wake up, with hopes that when he does, he’ll be back to normal.

Jaehyun, Donghyuck’s roommate is the only one who has access to their room but Donghyuck has slept with his covers over him and he didn’t want to disturb a puppy sleeping. Who knows if Donghyuck will bite him!

“Well, look what I found underneath Donghyuck’s bed.” He tells the group waiting in the living room, dropping an old leathered book on the coffee table (the forgotten collar says hello, still).

“What’s this?” Doyoung asks, picking it up and opening the pages. Mark sees Jungwoo hook his chin on Doyoung’s shoulder, peeking at the contents curiously.

“Some weird… I don’t know… at first I thought it was Harry Potter merch because of all the magic it talks about but I remembered Donghyuck has never watched Harry Potter.” Jaehyun sits next to Doyoung.

“Is it witchcraft?” Yuta asks jokingly but the expression on Doyoung’s face makes everyone’s faces fall.

“Guess so.”

Sicheng chimes into the conversation and Mark is well… still dumbfounded. “Didn’t he buy those Tarot cards as a joke last summer? I even asked him to give me a reading…”

There’s no way his best friend of five years is a witch, is there? That’s Lee Donghyuck. He might have done a lot of stupid shit in his life and has made questionable decisions but he isn’t going to and hasn’t sold his soul to the devil, has he?

Taeil, the oldest has remained quiet and only pops in now. “Witchcraft is something hard to learn, he can’t have possibly done this on his own.”

Silence befalls the whole room, everyone turning to look at Taeil with brows raised and the oldest defends himself in nervous laughter. “Theoretically! I’m talking theoretically!”

What follows is the members trying to make Taeil admit that he got Donghyuck into witchcraft, causing a loud ruckus until Mark clears his throat and announces the he has something to say. “I think we should just put that book where it came from and ask Donghyuck himself.”

That seems to be the best idea and so everyone agrees. Johnny takes the book from a curious Taeyong (who, no pun intended, looks like a berated puppy when the book’s taken away from him). “I’ll wake him up, everyone act normal. If this is really what we think this is, Donghyuck is probably not ready to tell us anything so let’s just wait until he can talk about it, okay? The most important thing is his health right now. Let’s not freak him out.”

Mark really, really admires Johnny for being level-headed.

 

 

The day passes without anyone talking about the book or Donghyuck talking about any sort of witchy things he has been into lately. Not that Mark wants to coax the witch confession out of him, but he spends more time with Donghyuck today. Perhaps it’s because Puppy Donghyuck is extra clingy, or Puppy Donghyuck is extra cuter but something about it makes Mark not want to let Donghyuck out of his sight.

It’s night time now, just the two of them in Donghyuck and Jaehyun’s room. Johnny, Jaehyun and Doyoung are doing NCT Night Night, he can hear the sound of Taeyong gaming from their room. Sicheng is still out preparing for NCT Vision’s debut, he doesn’t really know what else the others are up to at this time of the night but he’s thankful that his silence with Donghyuck isn’t disturbed.

He’s sitting on Donghyuck’s computer chair as the other lies down on the bed, hands folded onto his stomach as he looks up at the ceiling. Mark wonders what’s so interesting about the white paint. Is he thinking of changing it? Are his new doggo-abilities allowing him to see new colors?

“What are you thinking so hard about?” He asks, throwing a stress ball up into the air and catching it. Donghyuck’s eyes diver to him and then to the ball, he stops throwing it immediately when Donghyuck’s tail begins to wag.

“I feel weird.” He mumbles, rubbing his stomach. “My stomach has been hurting all day, I feel like I have diarrhoea but not really? Like… it’s just grumbling and… I feel kinda, really warm.”

Mark makes a sound of interest. “Oh? Maybe that means you’re turning back?” At this, Mark moves from the chair to the empty space next to Donghyuck on the bed, settling right beside him.

Donghyuck sits up, hands go up to his ears and to his tail. “I don’t think so.”

The lighting of Donghyuck’s room is dim, the moonlight floods in from the windows and it illuminates the points of Donghyuck’s nose and cheeks that Mark just wants to…

Donghyuck’s looking at him now, eyes darting from Mark’s eyes to his nose to his lips and—“I just… it’s so, so weird… I’m so… I feel so… attracted to you? And like, no offense but you’re a big fucking dork but I just want to kiss you right now.”

Mark feels heat rise up in his body at the bold statement.

Heat.

Oh.

This must be the phase where puppies just go around humping everything.

Oh no.

“Hyuck—will that make you feel better?” Of course, always the reliable hyung. Always the hyung that would give the Dream members the shirt off his back if they asked. It’s not so different from him helping the other Dreamies right? This is just him being a good older friend, being a good leader…

He acts like he isn’t nervous. But his knee is bouncing up and down, tongue swiping at his dry lips as he swallows thick. Everything that Donghyuck does is magnified to him now, the slight way he leans forward, his tail that wraps around his thigh as he manoeuvres himself so that he’s at a comfortable position near Mark. Mark feels as if his chest is going to explode. Donghyuck smells so sweet—like strawberries and cherries and peaches and—

“Yes,” Donghyuck breathes out and the warmth fans at Mark’s lips.

Donghyuck is warm, and all Mark wants to do is touch, touch, touch.

So he does.

Mark closes the gap in between their lips. Donghyuck is eager, eager, eager. Maybe it’s the instinct that’s overwhelming his entirety that urges him to push Mark down on the bed and straddle him.

Mark puts his hand on Donghyuck, fingers grazing slight skin beneath his shirt as the other kisses him with fervor and raw want. Mark has had his first kiss, but nothing like this—nothing this messy and heated and… nothing ever amounted to the butterflies he is feeling right now.

The kiss lasts long, Donghyuck mostly leading it and Mark just responding and giving everything that Donghyuck wants to get from him. Donghyuck kisses him as if he is running out of time, desperate with the want to be relieved and Mark gives everything to him. Soft tugs at his hair encourage Donghyuck to go on, the tug at his tail equates to Donghyuck swiping his tongue against Mark’s lesser lip and the older is quick to oblige.

Mark hears his heart in his ears when Donghyuck’s tongue meets his own. It’s an odd feeling at first, but the sound that Donghyuck makes when Mark sucks on his tongue experimentally shoots a jolt of electricity up Mark’s spine that leads him to flipping them over.

“Hyung,” Donghyuck is breathless when Mark pulls away, lips slick with spit and Mark just wants to kiss him again—drown in his warmth and make him feel good.

“Feel okay?” He asks, occupies the space between Donghyuck’s legs so that he’s more comfortable making out with his best friend. (Mark shoos away the thought that Donghyuck is his best friend.)

“Almost.” Donghyuck replies, almost abashedly but wraps his legs around Mark’s waist anyway, his tail tracing a pattern over Mark’s arm. “Help me feel good, hyung.”

Mark would, will always oblige.

It doesn’t take him long before he’s kissing Donghyuck again, this time he takes the matters into his own hands and leads Donghyuck. His kisses are gentle, more pecks are involved before they progress into longer, open mouthed kisses. He licks into Donghyuck’s mouth and the sound of approval, the arms around his neck make Mark feel the need to do it again.

Donghyuck is warm. Everywhere he touches him feels like his skin is burning—in the good way, in the best way. So Mark touches him in places he has never dared of before, there’s a hand that slips underneath his shirt, resting on the dip of his stomach and he leaves Donghyuck’s lips for a while to press hot kisses against his neck.

He finds out that Donghyuck loves having his neck kissed as he has Mark’s hair gathered in his fist, pressing Mark down harder against his skin as he angles his neck to give the older more access. This is unchartered territory, but all Mark wants to do is make Donghyuck feel good.

He can worry about the consequences later. Young and dumb, right?

“Hyung,” Donghyuck whines again, his other hand gripping the muscle of Mark’s arm as his tail makes it way beneath Mark’s loose hanging shirt. It tickles him a little. “Mark me.”

Suddenly, Mark feels flustered. As if he hasn’t been kissing Donghyuck for the past ten minutes. “M-mark you?”

“Y-yeah, like y’know… give me a hickey… anything… do something.”

That request has Mark trembling above Donghyuck. He’s really about to give him a hickey right now, he has never given one to anyone properly and he’s scared he might fuck up and make Donghyuck bleed or something but the tug on his arm and the demanding way Donghyuck rubs his tail against his skin forces Mark to shut his thoughts off and just… go for it.

“Don’t think so hard hyung—ah!” Mark effectively cuts Donghyuck off by biting a spot on his neck just above his collar bone. He soothes it with his tongue after and then sucks a mark on the pretty bronze skin. When Mark pulls away, there’s a purple bruise that’s beginning to bloom. _Nice_.

After marking him, it seems as though Donghyuck has calmed down. He has unscrewed his eyes, catching his breath and pulls Mark back up to kiss him again. Mark feels less tension against Donghyuck’s stomach and… rubs the spot there soothingly. Donghyuck hums in appreciation, buries his face in Mark’s neck in a hug.

“Thanks, hyung.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Donghyuck nods against him and Mark falls next to him easily. Cuddling with Donghyuck is not hard, but cuddling with him after making out with him is still a concept that Mark hasn’t wrapped his head around.

But he’s tired, and dizzy, and he can still smell the intoxicating sweetness of Donghyuck’s scent. It lulls him to sleep with ease.

He’ll worry about the consequences later.

 

 

“What. Is. That.” It’s Johnny that notices the hickey in the morning as they’re getting breakfast. Donghyuck has made it a point to wear a huge sweater but really… nothing ever, ever goes past Johnny.

Donghyuck pulls up the collar of his sweater again, shrugging it off and Mark hides the smile behind his mug of coffee. They haven’t talked about it, and he thinks they never will. But nothing has changed between their dynamics and he’s okay with that… (he’s also okay with their dynamics changing, with more kisses in between but he’s never going to admit that).

Donghyuck’s tail is a dead giveaway, his tail unable to stop wagging as Mark can just tell that he’s also still thinking about last night. “It’s just a mosquito bite. Remember the mosquito problem in our room? We should really get that fixed soon.”

Johnny doesn’t buy it and shoots Mark a questioning look. Mark swallows hard, Johnny knows he slept over at Donghyuck’s room and they were even caught cuddling by Jaehyun but Mark avoids Johnny’s piercing gaze and turns to the much interesting crossword puzzle book he’s trying to solve.

“Mosquito? You’re telling me a bruise is caused by a mosquito? I’m not stupid, Donghyuck—I know a hickey when I see one.”

To this, Mark sputters and Johnny glares at him again. He gathers himself pretty quick after that. Donghyuck sits himself across Mark, yet again, tail wrapping itself around his leg but this time… it feels much different.

“Hyung, who do you think will even give me a hickey? Do you think I actually went out and made out with someone when I have two pairs of ears and a tail?” Donghyuck’s voice is so serious and Mark can’t help but wonder when his best friend became such a great actor.

Johnny looks between Mark and Donghyuck and decides to drop the topic there. Mark is thankful that Johnny isn’t overbearing.  He’s just… really genuine and cares about Donghyuck a lot. “Just… don’t do something stupid, okay? If you ever want to tell me anything, you know you can always trust me, Duckie.”

The tone in Johnny’s voice tells Mark he isn’t only talking about making out with strangers. His mind flits back to the book. When will Donghyuck tell him about it?

Donghyuck looks nervous suddenly, back straightening up and his tail upturned too straight to be called excited. It’s anxious, if anything. “Hyung, what are you talking about?”

Johnny shakes his head, gathers his cup and coaster as he leaves to disappear into the living room. “Nothing. Just a reminder, I love you and I won’t judge you for anything.”

When Johnny disappears, Donghyuck turns to Mark with a confused expression. “What is he talking about?”

Mark takes a moment to reply, wonders if he’ll hide it from Donghyuck—that they know his dark secret… or something like that. “I don’t know… I’m not sure… But Hyuck, you can trust me too, you know?”

Donghyuck’s tail unwraps itself from Mark’s leg and falls to his side. “I know hyung, thanks.”

 

 

Donghyuck’s situation has been reported to the higher ups, and while their managers tell them to not worry about it as they have been handling it by themselves, Mark still couldn’t help but worry. What if Donghyuck never returned to normal? He knew the repercussions that would have—he didn’t want to think of the worst, but he is thinking of the worst and the worst is not having Donghyuck around anymore.

He’s spent five years of his life with Donghyuck, working towards and achieving their dreams together. He doesn’t know what he’ll do if one day, some day, the higher ups decided to separate them—to stop Donghyuck from achieving his dreams because of the predicament that he is in right now. Mark can’t let that happen, not to Donghyuck.

As if to clear his head of these worries, Mark welcomes himself into Donghyuck’s room. Contrary to the chaos that’s going on inside of Mark right now, Donghyuck is calm—tranquil even. The younger has found a means to entertain himself with his new set of ears and a tail to match. He has never seemed to be bothered by the potential consequences of him growing extra tissues on his body overnight.

He doesn’t find that odd, really. Because Donghyuck is always like this. Donghyuck always goes with the flow, always faces the problem if he can’t avoid them, always enjoys the journey towards solving problems without stressing over them. He wishes he can be more like him, he admires that about him a lot. Donghyuck and his likeness to the sun, always bright—always a ray of hope through the cloudy rainy days.

He doesn’t announce his entrance and makes his way to the room silently, careful not to let the door creak or crash against the doorframe when he closes it. Donghyuck is seated on his bed, his covers thrown haphazardly over his shoulders as he crouches down over something. From where he is, Mark can see that he’s reading some book and it takes another step before Mark recognizes the old leather book the older members had fussed about earlier.

“Donghyuck,” is the only sound he makes and that utterance of the puppy-boy’s name has the said person scrambling off his bed to hide the book under his pillow, almost falling off in the process of his panic. Mark frowns.

“What were you reading?” His tone is as threatening as a bunny. But a spark of curiosity adds a touch of threat to his voice that has him stepping forward to Donghyuck, his stance demanding an answer.

Donghyuck covers himself with his blanket, lies back down on his bed as if to stop Mark from getting anything he has placed underneath his pillow. Mark’s frown deepens. “Nothing.”

It is unlike Donghyuck to lie to Mark, except for when he’s trying to prank him or pull off a surprise birthday party for him, Mark has never heard Donghyuck lie to him. His lie is easily discernible, from the crack at the end of his syllable to the downturn of his ears (the ears really made Mark’s life easier), Mark can tell that Donghyuck’s gritting his teeth trying to answer him.

He takes another step forward, just enough for him to sink down on the bed. Donghyuck closes his eyes, all screwed shut with his lips pressed together tight. “What’s the big deal with that book? Why don’t you want to tell me anything?”

He is not the type to pressure Donghyuck into telling him things, but given what they know about the book that the younger is so very desperately trying to hide from him, he can’t help but feel worried. Donghyuck has done a lot of questionable things—but he doesn’t believe Donghyuck will get into something as far as witchcraft just to pull off his antics but with the way the younger is acting right now, he can’t help but be inclined to think about that.

Donghyuck shuffles and sits up, holds his tail in his hands and Mark watches as his ears droop even lower if possible. He almost wants to reach out and pet him.

For a moment, Mark gets reminded of last night and their proximity—in this same position and same place. He can almost smell Donghyuck’s sweetness from last night, the remnants of aroma lingering in his nose and it’s something that makes Mark’s mouth water. His hands begin to sweat as he tries to think back to the topic on hand—witchcraft, secrets and lies. Yeah, that’s for sure distracting.

“Hyung, you have to promise you won’t get mad or banish me.” Donghyuck sounds soft, too silent for normal. Mark scoots forward and takes Donghyuck’s hands in his. If his hands are sweating, then Donghyuck’s hands are cold. He rubs their hands together in an attempt to warm him up.

“Donghyuck, we have literally fought to the brink of you driving me to insanity. Why are you afraid of making me mad now?” The closeness, the affection and the fondness in Mark’s voice seems to lessen the tension in Donghyuck’s shoulders. No matter what Donghyuck does, Mark can’t ever hate him. Him and Donghyuck are part of a whole, a duo that works well together. Donghyuck has helped him come to where he is now and he hopes Donghyuck thinks that of him too. Sure, sometimes Donghyuck is annoying and blunt but he can’t imagine living his life without that now, without him now.

Donghyuck shuffles closer to Mark now, releases one of his hand from Mark’s hold to grab at the book under his pillow. Mark feels more nervousness build in his chest. He isn’t quite sure if it’s excitement or anxiety but it over all feels like nausea.

“The truth is… this isn’t an accident—or actually, it is… because I wasn’t even supposed to be human—”

Mark pauses, eyes blown wide as he puts his hands to Donghyuck’s shoulders to stop him from talking. “Donghyuck, are you shitting with me right now?”

Donghyuck shrugs off Mark’s hands in annoyance, a frustrated grunt emitting from the back of his throat as he opens the book on the page he was reading before Mark kindly interrupted him earlier. Mark’s heart is beating fast in his chest, he isn’t sure if he’s ready for the truth that Donghyuck is about to pour out to him.

“Look!” Donghyuck points at the page and Mark squints his eyes to see. There are characters that he cannot read along with illustrations of a human to animal transformation. It reminds Mark vaguely of the horror movies he has seen in his childhood, or like that scene in Snow White when the Evil Queen turns into a morbid old lady. Mark feels a cold shudder run down his spine as Donghyuck begins to explain.

“I-I… I got into witchcraft recently because I mean… it’s interesting and quirky and funny! I never thought it would actually work, I thought it was just something to waste my time on, y’know? A personal quirk to talk about during variety shows! So this book came with a Witchraft 101 kit I bought at a sketchy website…” Donghyuck’s fiddling with the pages of the book and Mark doesn’t know where to look, or how to process this information. He remains seated still.

“Witchcraft… you wanted to have a personal talent and you thought of witchcraft.”

“Yes, shush! I’m not done explaining. I didn’t even want to turn into a dog-person hybrid! I just wanted to turn into a puppy! You always said that I reminded you of a puppy but you always reject my affections so I thought maybe if I turned into a puppy you’d finally notice me and accept my love—”

Mark is more confused now. He always thought they were just playing around whenever Mark rejected his advances, that’s what best friends do right? He’s always been used to their push-pull relationship that pushing away Donghyuck is just… simply a habit to him now.

But the truth is, the more Donghyuck pulls, the more Mark feels as if he is losing himself in every touch Donghyuck gives. It’s more often than not that Mark ends up overthinking the little touches and attempts at kissing that Donghyuck has given him. But they’re best friends, and Mark shouldn’t crave his best friend’s touch, shouldn’t crave his hugs, shouldn’t crave his kisses. But he does, and Mark does the rational thing by avoiding it, by pretending he hates it. If he pretends good enough and long enough, perhaps he’ll believe it.

They’re best friends. Just best friends. And Mark doesn’t want to ruin it by craving something Donghyuck cannot give.

“Donghyuck, that’s so stupid! You messed with unknown forces just to get my attention—that’s so—I can’t believe you.” He can’t mask the mixture of disappointment, surprise and even the upset in his voice. “You give affection to everyone and everyone else playfully rejects you, why did you do it because _I_ reject you? That doesn’t make any sense—”

“It doesn’t!” Donghyuck’s ears are upturned now, his hands balled in fists and his tail perked up as if in defense. “I didn’t know you were this slow, hyung! You’re smart but you can really be such a dumbass sometimes!” Donghyuck takes a deep breath, Mark sees his eyes watering and nose flaring. “I like you! I like you a lot it bothers me that you don’t want me to touch you, it bothers me that you touch everyone except me—yeah, I did a stupid desperate thing but it’s because I like you so much!”

Mark’s jaw drops at the confession, feels a bucket of cold water dumped over his entire body.

Donghyuck likes him.

Mark has imagined this scenario multiple times, but with the premise of him confessing and getting rejected by Donghyuck. It concludes with their friendship ruined. But never like this, not with Donghyuck nearly brought to tears with dog ears and a tail. Not with Donghyuck turning away from him and telling him to get out of his room.

“I don’t want to see you right now, hyung. D-don’t worry about, I’ll be back to work as the spell fades in a few days.” Donghyuck tucks himself back in his bed. Numbly, Mark stands up from the bed.

Mark wants to touch Donghyuck, wants to hold him, wants to tell him that he likes him too and he wants to caress him and kiss him like he did last night. But Mark is a coward, and so Mark exits Donghyuck’s room with a heavy heart.

 

 

Mark wakes up early for his recording in Music Core. The entire dorm is asleep when he goes out for work, he ponders over visiting Donghyuck and asking for forgiveness but he figures that they both need time and space to be able to think. To be able to process everything.

So Mark goes by the whole day not seeing Donghyuck, not talking to Donghyuck.

He’s distracted for the most of the recording, making mistakes during spiels and apologizing endlessly to Mina for having to repeat such a cheesy line over and over again because Mark’s consciousness kept on flitting back to Donghyuck.

He’s relieved by the time he gets to go home. He even bought Donghyuck’s favorite chocolate milkshake for him on the way home only to be greeted by Johnny saying that Donghyuck has gone over to the Dream dorm for the day, saying he needs the kids’ energy to lift his spirits or something.

Johnny tells him to go, and so he does.

Arriving at the Dream dorm without Donghyuck feels kind of awkward. He’s usually with Donghyuck whenever they go over for movie nights or sleepovers. He’s usually, always with Donghyuck.

He texts Jeno when he’s outside and Jeno lets him in with a bright smile. Mark guesses Donghyuck hasn’t told them yet about what happened between them last night, if he has, he probably won’t be met with the same bright smile as Jeno presents him with now.

 “Where’s Donghyuck?” He asks once he’s inside and hands Jeno the box of donuts the Dream members demanded when he texted Jeno that he’s coming over. Always weak for the kids.

“In Renjun’s room, they’re having one of those deep talks so I don’t suggest you interrupt.” Jeno accepts the box of donuts and walks into the kitchen, Jaemin promptly yells a thank you from the other side of the room.

Jaemin fixes them some coffee to match with the donuts, Jeno, Jaemin and Jisung are seated around him in the kitchen table enjoying the treat but he keeps on looking back at Renjun’s room anxiously, leg bouncing as he awaits any sort of movement from the room.

Jaemin forces a piece of donut to his lips to distract him. “You did something bad, didn’t you Mark hyung?”

Mark takes the donut, biting on his lip in the process. “What brought you to that conclusion, Jaemin?”

Jaemin is always observant, often times staying at the side to watch and learn and digest everything that’s happening around him. He won’t be surprised if Jaemin has figured them out both. “Because… Injun and Donghyuck only have their deep talks if one of them is upset—Injun wasn’t upset before Donghyuck came. So that rules out us doing something to upset him… hence there’s only one possible conclusion.”

Three pairs of eyes dart to him curiously, the trio simultaneously tilting their head in curiosity as their gazes prod Mark for the answer. He feels sweat trickle down his forehead at the intensity of the atmosphere. “I did… but it’s something I haven’t discussed with Donghyuck yet, I’ll tell you when we’ve discussed it… okay?”

That seems to placate the crowd. Jaemin gives his thigh a comforting squeeze and Jisung comments that they’ll probably come around to it, they always do—no matter how intense their conflict or fight is, they’ll always come around and make up.

Mark wishes Jisung will always be right.

Minutes that feel like hours pass before Renjun exits from his room, a surprised expression spreading over his face when his sight lands on Mark who’s seated anxiously on his original spot. The other members have moved on to do their own thing, Jaemin’s folding the laundry while Jeno and Jisung bicker it out over a mobile game. He’s too distracted to join them.

“Mark hyung,” Renjun greets him and Mark immediately bolts to sit up right. There’s hope brightening up his features and Renjun offers a small smile in return.

“Donghyuck told me everything.” Renjun says as he pulls the chair next to Mark, helping himself to a donut. Of course Donghyuck told him everything, Renjun and Donghyuck understand each other on a different level.

“Renjun—I’m so stupid, I shouldn’t have told him he’s stupid—I should have stayed and—” Renjun cuts him off with a palm up, shaking his head.

Even if Renjun is seven months younger, there are moments when he feels that Renjun is the older hyung. “You shouldn’t be saying this to me, hyung. Go talk to Donghyuck. He says he needs to rest but he’s probably on Facetime with Kun hyung talking about magic.”

Mark laughs a little, pushes himself off the chair and thanks Renjun for taking care of Donghyuck when he can’t. Renjun smiles and urges the older to go for it.

Donghyuck’s chocolate milkshake has melted into some chocolate drink but the attempt at rescuing it by putting it in the freezer at the Dream dorm has saved some of its dignity. So, Mark brings it with him to Renjun’s room.

He knocks once, twice—and when there’s no reply, he peeks his head in. “Donghyuck?”

He sees Donghyuck all wrapped in a blanket, his hoodie over his head that it covers his ears but he can still see their prominence over the purple material. His tail is moving underneath the covers and Donghyuck sighs when he sees Mark, the previous mirth on his face from the conversation with Ten, Kun and Yukhei about his ventures into the _dark side_ (according to Yukhei) fading upon Mark’s presence.

“I’ll call you guys later. Mark hyung’s here.” Donghyuck ends the call and Mark takes that as his cue to enter.

Donghyuck is at the end of the bed, pressed to the wall and Mark stands awkwardly by the door. “I got your favorite milkshake but it got all melted because—”

“Thank god, I’m thirsty.” Donghyuck reaches out a hand for the milkshake and Mark is confused at how he’s dealing with the situation with humor… how he’s dealing with the situation so lightly.

Mark gives Donghyuck the milkshake (now just some chocolatey liquid, really). “Can you believe Renjun left me here alone to dehydrate? His room doesn’t even have snacks, I tried snooping around his drawers but there’s absolutely nothing. I’m glad I don’t live here.”

It’s almost as if they didn’t fight, almost as if Donghyuck didn’t confess his feelings to him last night. But he guesses this is real life, and life isn’t a television drama with grandiose confessions and irritating conflicts that dragged on and on and on. For real people in real life, life goes on. Him and Donghyuck are still best friends, but… Mark wants to change that.

Donghyuck is about to open his mouth again to speak but Mark beats him to it. “Donghyuck, I like you too.”

“Holy fuck—” Donghyuck almost drops the milkshake on Renjun’s bed but is saved by Mark’s reflexes, their hands are clasped around the plastic cup as they erupt into laughter at the mini heart attack that the almost-accident gave. If they tainted Renjun’s bed, they know they won’t live to see the light of day.

They’re laughing, heads falling over each other’s shoulders as their hands overlap against the cold drink. “Hyung—oh my god, hyung. We almost died. Why would you say something like that when I’m holding a drink—a chocolate drink, on Renjun’s bed.” Donghyuck says when he’s calm from laughter, but Mark hears the mirth in his voice that he misses.

Carefully, Mark moves the milkshake from Donghyuck’s hands to Renjun’s nightstand and breathes in to calm himself from laughing. It takes a second before they’ve stopped giggling. They’re still holding hands.

“Can you say that again, hyung?” Donghyuck’s smile reaches his eyes, his cheeks bunch up too and Mark can never say no to that.

Mark inhales and bites his cheeks. “I said, I like you. I don’t know when I did—but I found myself craving your touches when you don’t touch me, I found myself wanting to kiss you for real whenever you _try_ to kiss me. Do you know how painstaking it is to stop myself every time you’re near? It’s real torture, Donghyuck-ah.”

His words seem to make Donghyuck happy, so he goes on, pouring out his heart to every syllable that comes out of his mouth. “I keep telling myself— _dude_ , that’s Donghyuck! It’s illegal to think of him like that, that’s your best friend! But you had to be such. A. Tease.” He pokes at Donghyuck’s chest at every word, Donghyuck can only laugh. “I’m a growing boy, it was hard to control myself but I did, Donghyuck. I didn’t want to ruin what we had because I wanted you in a way that was… different.”

Donghyuck lets out the biggest sigh of relief, tackles Mark down onto the bed until he’s straddling him. “Hyung,” he breathes out, faces inches apart and Mark just wants to close that gap between them, “you’re so slow. Next time, I’ll spell everything out for you.”

“Please do.”  

At that, Donghyuck closes the distance between their lips and captures Mark’s in a kiss. Donghyuck kisses Mark like he is running out of time, all rushed with teeth clacking against teeth. Too eager like a puppy and Mark feels his tail wag. But Mark pulls away only to kiss him again, hands tangled at the hair on the back of his head. He kisses him slow, gentle, reminds him that they have all the time in the world.

But they don’t, and their make-out session is intruded by the door opening to reveal the four Dream members stumbling on top of each other. They had been listening. He’s pretty sure he hears Chenle scream from Jisung’s phone.

Donghyuck whines but doesn’t get off Mark. “Get out!”

Mark is absolutely red, his face is burning and he feels so hot. He’s hiding his face in his hands but he can hear the screaming and the teasing and the closing of the door once Donghyuck has thrown enough pillows to shoo away the prying children.

“That was so embarrassing… we have to explain to them…” Mark mumbles behind his hands but Donghyuck takes his hands away from his face and instead intertwines their fingers together, pinning Mark’s hands beside his head.

“Don’t care, let’s do that again.”

And they do.

 

 

The day after that, Mark wakes up to a very human Donghyuck. No ears and no tail. Through the grogginess of his morning, he wonders if everything had been a dream. The transformation, the confessing, and the multitude of kissing that happened after. But he confirms that this is his reality when Donghyuck enters the bathroom as he’s brushing his teeth, arms wounding around his waist with the younger pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. He doesn’t push him away.

“Good morning, human Donghyuck.” He greets after he has rinsed his mouth and wiped his lips off with the towel hanging on his shoulder. He switches their position so Donghyuck can brush his teeth.

“Taeyong hyung has been asking me how I turned back. I just said it probably faded away through time.” The older members know about the witchcraft now, with Donghyuck confessing everything. He received enough scolding to last him a life time and they demanded that he promise not to delve into anything “demonic” ever again.

Mark’s arms are around Donghyuck, his chest pressed to his back as he hooks his chin on his shoulder. Mark watches Donghyuck from the mirror, smiles as he realizes that now—he can hold Donghyuck like this, can kiss Donghyuck any way he wants without holding himself back. He’s happy. They’re happy. “Honestly, for a while—I was scared they’ll kick you out of the group for having two pairs of ears and a tail. I’m glad it’s just a spell.” Mark confesses and Donghyuck splutters.

Donghyuck washes his mouth quickly, takes Mark’s towel on his shoulder and wipes his lips with it. “What do you mean! Me? Kicked out of the group? That’s impossible, I’m literally the most valuable member right now, no offense.” Mark laughs and Donghyuck hits his chest for even thinking that.

Just like this, Mark thinks. He likes them just like this. No extra ears or extra limbs, no extra drama or extra sadness. Just him and Donghyuck, drowning and basking in all the repressed love and affection through-out the past five years of their lives.

Mark turns Donghyuck around so he can trap him between his arms and the sink, Donghyuck smiles at him challengingly. “Are you going to kiss me? The hyungs might catch us, you know?”

“Yeah—but a good morning kiss is worth it.” Mark kisses Donghyuck and he tastes peppermint on his tongue.

The older members don’t know about them yet, and Mark feels the suspicious gazes on them when he lets Donghyuck sit on his lap without complaints, when he lets Donghyuck wrap himself around him during break times, when he lets Donghyuck kiss him on the cheek and on the neck on and off screen. Still, Donghyuck’s warmth against his body when the younger curls up against him during long rides home is always worth it.

All it took for Mark to realize this is five years and a transformation.

**Author's Note:**

> actually @ me   
> cc: [xuxikr](https://curiouscat.me/xuxikr)  
> twt: [@renduckie](https://twitter.com/renduckie)
> 
> so some notes! bc some ppl might be confused hhhh  
> • Hyuck got into witchcraft when he first bought the tarot cards. Then, he bought a Witchcraft 101 kit from some shady website and tried it out thinking it’ll just be fun. Because he’s literally a beginner witch trying a complicated transfiguration spell, it happens half-way that’s why he’s turned into a puppy-human hybrid.  
> • Kun and Ten might be interested in his ventures.  
> • Donghyuck might actually be a talented witch because he pulled this kind of transformation off the first try but Mark tells him to put that book right where it came from or so help him.


End file.
